NPM displaying updated packages

[lnksz]

Hi there,

I have always found it strange, that npm update -g doesn't show what actually was updated, but only

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Before finding and using topgrade, I had my own script to "update all things" and there I did.

npm outdated --global --json \
	| jq -r '. | keys[] | select( . != "npm")' \
	| xargs -I {} sudo npm update -g {}

Where npm outdated --global --json outputs something like this:

{
  "@angular-devkit/build-angular": {
    "current": "14.2.8",
    "wanted": "14.2.13",
    "latest": "20.1.5",
    "dependent": "mid-ui-tower",
    "location": "/home/me/project/node_modules/@angular-devkit/build-angular"
  },
  "@angular/animations": {
    "current": "14.2.9",
    "wanted": "14.3.0",
    "latest": "20.1.6",
    "dependent": "mid-ui-tower",
    "location": "/home/me/project/node_modules/@angular/animations"
  }
}

And jq -r '. | keys[] | select( . != "npm")' grabs the names of the outdated packages, except for npm itself.

@angular-devkit/build-angular
@angular/animations

And updates them individually.

So, would you be open to consider integrating a PR based on npm outdated if I give it a go, so that before the actual upgrade, topgrade can display a list of packages, their current version, and what it will upgrade to? (JSON parsing of course in Rust)

Or would you prefer something like relying on ncu, similar to the Go or Cargo updaters, instead?

Or maybe don't want to bother merging something like this?

[GideonBear]

I think the idea is good; but I would prefer waiting for #943 (#1147) instead of just printing it before the step.
Then we can run npm outdated, store the result, npm update -g, print the updated packages at the end with the rest.
Does that sound good?

[lnksz]

Ah, I didn't find those, because I was searching for npm only. Thanks for the hint and the quick response. If a framework/general base is on the way, it is definitely worth waiting for it

[GideonBear]

If you want to help in the meantime, you could review #1147 if you have time :)
I'll revisit this discussion once it is implemented.